WOMEN AND THE POWER OF GOD – by Deacon Marty McIndoe
In Genesis we read, “When God created human beings, he made them in the likeness of God; he created them male and female.” Even though we call God “Our Father”, and Jesus was a man, I believe that the true likeness of God cannot be seen by just looking at the masculine; nor can it be seen by just looking at the feminine. To truly see the image of God we must look at both the masculine nature and the feminine nature of humankind. Throughout the scriptures there are plenty of examples of both but there does seem to be preponderance of the masculine. Too often the women of scripture are in the background and don’t get the attention that they deserve. This is probably due to social and cultural partiality. I want to bring to the reader’s attention some of the women of Scripture that show God’s power at work. Since there are so many, this article will be in three parts. One, the women of the Hebrew Scriptures; Two, the women of the New Testament; and Three, women Saints of the Church.
PART I – POWERFUL WOMEN OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
EVE: In the creation account, Eve is seen as the mother of the living. She is also seen as Adam’s companion and helper. In Christian traditions, Eve is the one who led Adam astray by sharing the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge with him. When God confronts Adam about his disobedience he blames not only Eve for his transgression but also blames God for giving him Eve. Eve in turn blames the serpent for tempting her to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. While it is easy to think of Eve as being weak because of this, we must remember that Eve had to be a strong woman. She, according to the Genesis account, was the first mother. She had no one else to be an example of what motherhood was all about. She had no mother to show her how to take care of her children. She had no other women friends to help support her. In the Genesis account she was the only mother. It is in her that humanity receives life. The Church traditionally recognizes Eve as a Saint, along with Adam and celebrates their feast day on December 24th.
SARAH: Sarah was the wife of Abraham and is the first woman mentioned in scripture after Eve. She had to be a strong woman to accompany Abraham on his long journey to the Promised Land. She also was a woman with a good sense of humor. When God told Abraham that he and Sarah would bare a son, even though they were a century old, Sarah laughed. However, she also was a woman of faith because she took God at His Word. The letter to the Hebrews tells us that, “By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.” Can you imagine how much strength she would have to have to bring up children at her age?
SHIPHRAH AND PUAH: These two women were Hebrew mid-wives in Egypt who were ordered by Pharaoh to kill the newborn Jewish boys when they were born. Pharaoh felt that the Jewish people were getting too strong and too powerful so he ordered the midwives to kill the baby boys. Shiphrah and Puah knew the sanctity of life and did not do this and lied to Pharaoh about it. They knew that their stand on life could cost them their own life, but they were strong enough to follow their conscience. They are a great example to us of people who hold life sacred and of people who can stand up to an evil government through civil disobedience. Because of them, many Jewish lives were saved, including Moses.
SOBEKNEFRU: Was the daughter of the Pharaoh who had ordered the Hebrew children killed. She is the woman who found the baby Moses floating in a basket. She had the strength and courage to go against her father and raise Moses as her own child. Fortunately, she used Moses real mother, Jochebed as the nursemaid. Jochebed must have had a lot of strength and love for her son Moses to disobey Pharaoh and keep her son alive.
MAHLAH, NOAH, HOGLAH, MILCAH AND TIRZAH – THE FIVE DAUGHTER OF ZELOPHEHAD: Zelophehad was a descendent of Joseph who left Egypt with Moses and died in the wilderness. He had five daughters and no sons. Under the Jewish law only sons could inherit the property of their father. The five daughters of Zelophehad went to Moses and Eleazar and petitioned them to change the law. Through divine intervention, God told Moses to give the land to the daughters and to change the law so that if there were no male offspring, the estate could go to the daughters who would rightfully own it. Because of the vision and persistence of these women, Jewish law was changed forever. They had the strength to stand up against the established leaders and fight for equality. God honored their fight.
TAMAR: Tamar was married to Judah’s son, Er. Er was a wicked man and died and Judah asked his other son Onan to provide offspring for Tamar (a Levirate union) so that the family line would continue. Onan slept with Tamar but because he didn’t want her to have a child, he kept “spilling his seed on the ground”. Onan was more interested in a larger share of Judah’s estate, than continuing the Family line. Tamar knew that it was necessary for the family line to continue so she disguised herself as a prostitute and slept with her father-in-law, Judah. He did not recognize her. From that Union she brought forth twin sons to continue the family line. The one son, Perez is an ancestor of Jesus. Even though Tamar’s action seems odd in today’s world, Tamar received a great deal of respect from Judah for the bold thing that she did. Not only was she strong and bold to do this, but she was very bright to come up with a way to prove that Judah was the father (read Genesis 38). Because of her strength and cunning, the Davidic line continued on.
RAHAB: Rahab, who is listed in the genealogy of Jesus, is a most unlikely person to be an ancestor. First of all, she was not a Jew but was a pagan Canaanite. Secondly, she was a prostitute. Rahab lived in the city of Jericho and when the Jewish people were ready to attack that city Joshua sent in some spies. Rahab, was quite intelligent, perceptive and well informed. She recognized the two Jewish spies and told them that she had heard of their God and how He had set His people free from the Egyptians. She told the spies that all of the Canaanites were fearful of the Jews and their God. She even spoke a phrase of faith by saying, “For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below”. She told the spies that if they could spare her and her family, she would help them. Rahab went against her king and and her country and religion and she hid the spies in her home. Because of this, they were able to obtain tactical information. The Jews conquered the city and spared Rahab and her family. Rahab later married a Jewish man and continued the Davidic line to Jesus.
RUTH: During the time of the Judges rule of Israel, there was a famine in the land. Elimelech and his wife Naomi left their home in Bethlehem with their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion to go to the land of the Moabites and escape the famine. They were there several years and Elimelech died. Both sons had married Moabite women. Mahlon married Ruth and Chilion married Orpha. After about ten years both sons died and Naomi decided to go back to her homeland. She told both widowed daughters in laws to return to their families and to remarry. Orpha did return to her family, but Ruth decided to stay with Naomi and go back to Bethlehem. Ruth said to Naomi, “For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” Ruth went with Naomi to Bethlehem. It must have been very difficult for Ruth to leave her homeland and her family and to travel to an unknown land. Her relationship to Naomi and the witness of faith that Naomi provided gave her the strength to do go to Bethlehem. There Ruth supported herself and Naomi by gleaning in the fields of a man named Boaz. Boaz had heard of Ruth’s loyalty to her mother in law and saw her great kindness. He also saw her as a hard working woman. Boaz was a close relative of Naomi’s deceased husband Elimelech. He bought the land that Elimelech had owned and married Naomi. Together they had a son named Obed and a grandson named Jesse who would be the father of King David.
HULDAH: Most of the time when we think of Prophets, we think that they are all men. In the book of Kings, there is one female Prophet named who was most important to the Jewish heritage. She was one of seven women prophets (Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail and Esther) mentioned in scripture. The scriptures tell us that Hidlah was a prophet who the priests and royal officials would often consult. She could tell them of their fates and the fates of surrounding nations. She spoke stern commands to the leaders and was seen as someone who could determine if writings were from God or not. When they were rebuilding Solomon’s temple, a script was found and brought to Huldah to determine if it was God’s Word. Huldah declared that it was God’s Word and that the temple and people would suffer because they had failed to follow it. She told King Josiah that because of his repentance he would be spared. Her prophecies about destruction came true. Huldah was a woman who could stand up to anyone, commoner or king. She was well respected for her gifts of discernment and was a woman who helped turn the people back to God through repentance.
We can see that God chose these women, and many more besides, to help continue the Line of David and to help bring people to Him. Even in the Middle East several thousand years ago, when women were seen as subservient to men, God used their strength and their cunning and their faith to help build his Kingdom. This concludes Part I on the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). In a few days we will take a look at Part II, Women of the New Testament.